Tomb Raider pushed to Q1 2013

Just as with Bioshock Infinite last week, the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot has been delayed until next year. Originally, Square Enix planned a Q4 2012 launch, but it will now be Q1 2013.

Unlike the aforementioned Bioshock however, fans will not be as overly disappointed as the game will still be presented at E3 next month.

The announcement was made today on developer Crystal Dynamics‘ official forums:

“We’re doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait. The game is looking amazing and we can’t wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.”

I for one am certainly looking forward to the game, after an impressive showing at E3 last summer and an interesting new direction they are taking the series to.

I’m curious though as to whether there is a genuine need for more development time, or if this delay is purely for commercial reasons – to avoid competing with the other big hitters in the holiday season.